MAPTA_Ben_FranklinWeek 4 was played after the league’s first evening off in its history to celebrate Halloween and featured one match of two unbeaten (P-Cricket and Wallingford) and one match of two winless teams (Greenville and Kennett). This season’s schedule is unique as the teams played 3 matches and then had a week off for Halloween, then play 3 more matches and they are off for Thanksgiving, following by 3 more matches and then they are off for Christmas. After Christmas, the leagues have their final two weeks before they split into the Top and Bottom Six in a race to the top or off the bottom 2.

Martins2 made the trip down Sugartown road looking to earn their first victory of the season against a very determined Waynesborough squad. At first, the feat seemed quite achievable as they had taken the first set on courts 1, 2, and 4. Unfortunately, for MD2, the only sets they would after this tremendous start was on court 3 where Carter and Doc swept Studnick and Jim Ryan. Not even Captain Dan’s good luck Phillies Cap and sweater which has a lower thread count then a stripper’s thong could will a win this evening. Doc is now officially questioning his move from WCC to MD. “While my day job can bring some unexpected moments, I never expected this team have so much trouble sealing the deal. Other than Carter and I 4 wins this season, this squad has only mustered up a single court in 4 weeks.”

Martins1 and the team of Falatek and Brooke dropped their match in a third set tie-breaker over Burt and Eger but that did not stop them from winning the overall match in a tie-breaker of sets. Martins1 moves into a tie with 7 out of 8 points with Waynesborough and face Aronimink next week. Overbrook is striving to stay in the top 6 and their point win can be all important at the split.

Greenville secured its first victory of the season with a sweep of Kennett. The Zink Donoho duo appears to be the break out team on court 2 as they win their third consecutive match this year. Everyone’s eyes are on next week’s battle against Waynesborough whom also usually puts on a super competitive court 2 as well.

In the battle of the undefeated, only one team emerged with points. Wallingford won their fourth consecutive match in a battle over Philly-Cricket. In a battle on court 1, Furman and McGrath split sets with two tie-breakers before winning the third set over Tom Harris and Ritesh.

H-Valley has now strung together 4 victories in a row with their sweep over Vic Mead. Vic Mead still stand with 0 points and needs to get off the shneid soon if they want to compete next season in D1. H-Valley on the other hand is a legitimate Top 6 team and has shown that this team has matured and played well enough to compete with any club in the D1 division. Captain Rodney “I knew this was going to be our year. The new courts and moving into our improved paddle facility has inspired this team to make a run at the title.”

The Aronimink vs. Merion score was not posted at the time of this article but unless Merion caught lightening in a bottle, lets’ assume that Aronimink won and also stayed undefeated. Unless Merion won 2 courts, they also have 0 points for the first four weeks and 2 of their next three matches are against undefeated teams. Is the 13-14 Merion last years P-Country?

Standings after 4 weeks
Team Points Next 3 Matches
Wallingford 8pts Merion, Ovb, Aron
Aronimink 8pts MD1, Way, Wall
H-Valley 8pts Kenn, P-Cricket, Merion
Waynesborough 7pts Green, Aron, P-Cricket
Martins-1 7pts Aron, Kenn, Green
P-Cricket 6pts VM, H-Valley, Way
Overbrook 4pts MD2, Wall, VM
Greenville 3pts Way, Mer, MD1
Kennett 2pts H-Valley, MD1, MD2
Martins-2 1pt Ovb, VM1, Kenn1
Merion 0pts Wall, Green, H-Valley
Vic Mead 0pts P-Cricket, Mar2, Ovb

For those tracking P-Country in D2, they are still undefeated and tied with Conestoga in first place.

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